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THE TOWER MENAGERIE.
THE TOWER MENAGERIE.
THE TOWER MENAGERIE: COMPRISING THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ANIMALS CONTAINED IN THAT ESTABLISHMENT; WITH Anecdotes of their Characters and History. ILLUSTRATED BY PORTRAITS OF EACH, TAKEN FROM LIFE, BY WILLIAM HARVEY; AND ENGRAVED ON WOOD BY BRANSTON AND WRIGHT. LONDON: PRINTED FOR ROBERT JENNINGS, POULTRY; AND SOLD BY W. F. WAKEMAN, DUBLIN. M DCCC XXIX. CHISWICK: PRINTED BY CHARLES WHITTINGHAM COLLEGE HOUSE. TO HIS MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY KING GEORGE THE FOURTH, THE MUNIFICENT PATRON OF THE ARTS
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INTRODUCTION.
INTRODUCTION.
The origin of Menageries dates from the most remote antiquity. Their existence may be traced even in the obscure traditions of the fabulous ages, when the contests of the barbarian leader with his fellow-men were relieved by exploits in the chase scarcely less adventurous, and when the monster-queller was held in equal estimation with the warrior-chief. The spoils of the chase were treasured up in common with the trophies of the fight; and the captive brute occupied his station by the side of th
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THE BENGAL LION.
THE BENGAL LION.
Felis Leo. Linn. —Var. Bengalensis . First in majesty as in might, the monarch of the brute creation asserts an undisputed claim to occupy the foremost place in our delineation of the inhabitants of this Royal Menagerie. Who is there to whom his stately mien, his unequalled strength, his tremendous powers of destruction, combined with the ideas generally entertained of his dauntless courage, his grateful affection, and his merciful forbearance, are not familiar “as household words?” When we spea
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THE LIONESS AND HER CUBS.
THE LIONESS AND HER CUBS.
Strikingly distinguished at the first glance from her royal mate by the absence of the flowing honours of the mane, which invest him with an air of superior dignity and gravity, the Lioness is also remarkable for her smaller size, her more slender and delicate make, and the superior grace and agility of her movements. Her inferiority in muscular strength to the Lion, and to him alone, is, however, fully compensated by the greater liveliness of her disposition, the unrestrained ardour of her pass
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THE CAPE LION.
THE CAPE LION.
Felis Leo. —Var. Capensis . Africa, as we have already observed, is truly the native country of the Lion; and in no part of that vast continent, we may add, does he attain greater size, or exhibit all his characteristic features in fuller and more complete developement, than in the immediate vicinity of the settlements which have been formed in the interior of its southern extremity by the Dutch and English colonists of the Cape. In speaking of the Bengal Lion, we have also pointed out the more
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THE BARBARY LIONESS.
THE BARBARY LIONESS.
Felis Leo. —Var. Numida. In the male of this variety, which has been more frequently brought to Europe than any other, the mane attains as much developement and covers the under parts of the body as extensively as in the Lion of Eastern Asia, whom, however, at the adult age, he exceeds considerably in size. The Lioness has little to distinguish her from the other breeds. The specimen now in the Menagerie is a young female about three years and a half old. She was a present to his Majesty from th
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THE TIGER.
THE TIGER.
Felis Tigris. Linn. Closely allied to the Lion, whom he resembles in size, in power, in external form, in internal structure, in zoological characters, in his prowling habits, and in his sanguinary propensities, the Tiger is at once distinguished from that king of beasts, and from every other of their common genus, by the peculiar marking of his coat. On a ground which exhibits in different individuals various shades of yellow, he is elegantly striped by a series of transverse black bands or bar
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THE LEOPARD.
THE LEOPARD.
Felis Leopardus. Linn. The race of this wily and sanguinary animal, which is unsurpassed in all the terrible characteristics of its tribe, and yields to the tremendous and ferocious beasts, to the illustration of whose habits and manners our previous pages have been devoted, in none of their dreaded attributes, excepting only in size and strength, is spread almost as extensively over the surface of the Old World as that of the Lion himself. From the shores of the Mediterranean to the immediate n
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THE JAGUAR.
THE JAGUAR.
Felis Onca. Linn. It can scarcely fail to have been remarked by those who have perused the preceding pages with moderate attention that the species of cats described in them, including the largest and most formidable of the whole genus, are exclusively natives of the Old World, and confined to the hot and burning climates of Southern Asia and of Africa. A second and more numerous class, of which, however, no example exists at present in the Tower Menagerie, and which, consequently, it does not f
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THE PUMA.
THE PUMA.
Felis Concolor. Linn. Nearly approaching to the Jaguar in size and form, but obviously distinguished from him at the first glance, by the total absence of spots, the Puma, Couguar, or, as he was once called, the American Lion, occupies the second place among the cats of the New World, over nearly the whole of which he was formerly spread, from Canada and the United States in the North, to the very extremity of Patagonia in the South. From a large portion of this immense expanse of country he app
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THE OCELOT.
THE OCELOT.
Felis Pardalis. Linn. “Of all the animals with tigrine skins,” says Buffon, “the male Ocelot has unquestionably the most beautiful and at the same time the most elegantly variegated robe; that of the Leopard himself does not approach it in liveliness of colour or regularity of design.” That this estimate is by no means exaggerated will readily be allowed by all who have had an opportunity of seeing this truly beautiful creature, which may unquestionably be regarded as the beau ideal of a cat. Ne
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THE CARACAL.
THE CARACAL.
Felis Caracal. Linn. The Caracal, which is unquestionably identical with the Lynx of the Ancients, but whose original name has been, in modern times, usurped by an animal of northern origin, utterly unknown to the Greeks, and distinguished by the Romans by a totally different appellation, is a native of most of the warmer climates of the Old World, infesting probably as large an extent of the surface of the earth as the Lion or the Leopard themselves. Throughout the whole of Africa, from Egypt a
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THE CHETAH, OR HUNTING LEOPARD.
THE CHETAH, OR HUNTING LEOPARD.
Felis Jubata. Schreb. Uniting to the system of dentition, the general habit and many of the most striking peculiarities of the cats, some of the distinguishing features and much of the intelligence, the teachableness, and the fidelity of the dog, the Hunting Leopard forms a sort of connecting link between two groups of animals, otherwise completely separated, and exhibiting scarcely any other character in common than the carnivorous propensities by which both are, in a greater or less degree, ac
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THE STRIPED HYÆNA.
THE STRIPED HYÆNA.
Hyæna vulgaris. Desm. From the strongly marked group, to the illustration of various species of which the foregoing pages have been dedicated, we pass by a natural and easy transition to an animal, which, although closely resembling them in its zoological characters, and in the cowardly ferocity of its disposition, bears nevertheless a stronger affinity to the dogs, with which it was associated by Linnæus. From each of these groups it is, however, readily distinguished by several obvious and ess
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THE HYÆNA-DOG.
THE HYÆNA-DOG.
Canis pictus. Desm. It is not without much hesitation that we have adopted for this animal the generic name of Canis, and referred it, in conformity with the example of most of the leading zoologists of the day, to the same group with the Wolf, the Jackal, and the Fox; from all of which it differs in such important particulars as fully entitle it, in our estimation, to the rank of a distinct and separate genus. To this rank it has, indeed, been already raised by Mr. Brookes, under the generic ap
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THE AFRICAN BLOODHOUND.
THE AFRICAN BLOODHOUND.
Canis domesticus. Linn. Var. The generic characters of this well known group, comprehending not only the various races of the Dog, the Wolf, and the Jackal, but also the numerous species of Foxes, which differ from the rest only in the form of the pupils of their eyes (which are round in the former, and transversely linear in the latter) may be shortly enumerated as follows. They are all furnished in the upper jaw with six sharp incisors and two canine teeth in front, and with six molars on each
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THE WOLF.
THE WOLF.
Canis Lupus. Linn. This sullen and forbidding-looking animal, the most ravenous and ferocious that infests the more temperate regions of the earth, of many parts of which he is the terror and the scourge, is distinguished from the humble, generous, and faithful friend of man, the domestic dog, by no very remarkable or striking character; and yet there is something in his physiognomy, gait, and habit, which is at once so peculiar and so repulsive, that it would be almost impossible to confound a
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THE CLOUDED BLACK WOLF.
THE CLOUDED BLACK WOLF.
Canis nubilus. Say. To distinguish between the numerous races of Wolves which are scattered more or less abundantly over nearly the entire surface of the earth; to determine that such and such variations are the result of original formation, and that such and such others are merely the product of accidental circumstances; in other words, to establish clear and tangible grounds of specific distinction between animals so varied in external appearance, but corresponding so perfectly in every essent
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THE JACKAL.
THE JACKAL.
Canis aureus. Linn. The Jackal, one of the greatest pests of the countries which he inhabits, is spread over nearly the whole of Asia and the north of Africa, occupying in the warmer regions of those continents the place of the Wolf, of whom in many particulars he may be considered as offering a miniature resemblance. In size he is about equal to the common fox, but he differs from that equally troublesome animal in the form of the pupils of his eyes, which correspond with those of the dog and o
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THE CIVET, OR MUSK CAT.
THE CIVET, OR MUSK CAT.
Viverra Civetta. Linn. The group of animals to which we have next to turn our attention is perhaps the most puzzling, and certainly the least understood, among the true Carnivora; hence there exists no little difficulty in defining its limits and distinguishing the species which compose it. Under the generic name of Viverra, Linnæus comprehended a series, or, to speak more properly, a congeries, of quadrupeds, differing from each other so remarkably in form, in structure, and in habits, as to re
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THE JAVANESE CIVET.
THE JAVANESE CIVET.
Viverra Rasse. Horsf. The present species is remarkably distinct from the preceding both in form and colour. Its ground is of a much lighter gray, on which it offers a broad longitudinal dorsal line of black, and two or three narrower ones of the same colour on each side, composed of confluent spots. These spots are also thickly but somewhat irregularly scattered over the rest of the body, and may be considered as forming a series of flexuous dotted lines. The legs are black externally; and the
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THE GRAY ICHNEUMON.
THE GRAY ICHNEUMON.
Ichneumon Griseus. Geoff. From the Civets, to which it closely approaches in the number and in some degree also in the form of its teeth, in the asperity of its tongue, and in the semi-retractility of its claws, the group of which the Egyptian Ichneumon forms the type is distinguished by its narrower and more pointed muzzle, by the shortness of its lower lip, and more especially by the absence of the double cavity beneath the tail, which is replaced by a single pouch of considerable size, but de
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THE PARADOXURUS.
THE PARADOXURUS.
Paradoxurus typus. F. Cuv. Although the division of the true Carnivora into digitigrade and plantigrade is in many respects objectionable, we feel compelled, in conformity with established rules, to remove the animal before us from its most obvious affinities, to arrange it among the latter; placing it, however, at the commencement of that division and nearly in contact with the viverrine groups, to which it is so intimately allied, as to have been actually confounded by Buffon with the common G
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THE BROWN COATI.
THE BROWN COATI.
Nasua narica. F. Cuv. The characters of the genus to which this curious little animal belongs resemble so closely in the most important particulars those of the other plantigrade Carnivora, that it will here be sufficient to explain those points alone in which the Coatis differ from their immediate affinities. From the Bears they are essentially distinguished by the general form of their body, which in some measure approaches that of the viverrine group; by their physiognomy, which is altogether
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THE RACOON.
THE RACOON.
Procyon Lotor. Cuv. Larger in size and more robust in stature than the Coatis, and approximating still more closely in their physical characters to the Bears, which may be considered as the typical group of the plantigrade Carnivora, the Racoons naturally occupy an intermediate station between the playful, timid, and harmless little creatures just noticed, and the powerful, clumsy, and dangerous animals next to be described. Like both Bears and Coatis they have in each jaw six sharp incisors, tw
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THE AMERICAN BLACK BEAR.
THE AMERICAN BLACK BEAR.
Ursus americanus. Pallas. We have now arrived at the closing group of the true Carnivora; a group which, although less sanguinary in its habits than almost any of those which we have hitherto had occasion to notice, and endowed by nature with a capacity of subsisting entirely on vegetable substances, comprehends nevertheless, among the closely allied species of which it is composed, not merely the largest, but even some of the most formidable, of the carnivorous Mammalia. Both in outward shape a
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THE GRIZZLY BEAR.
THE GRIZZLY BEAR.
Ursus Ferox. Lewis and Clarke. A native also of the northern division of America, and more particularly of that extensive tract of country which constitutes the newly erected State of Missouri, the Grizzly Bear differs in many striking points, both of character and habits, from the subject of the preceding article, as well as from every other animal of the very natural group of which he forms part. By his elongated, narrowed, and flattened muzzle, added to the slight elevation of his forehead, h
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THE THIBET BEAR.
THE THIBET BEAR.
Ursus Thibetanus. F. Cuv. It is with no slight feelings of regret that we find ourselves unable to furnish a complete and satisfactory account of the animal from whom the portrait above given was taken. Very soon after the drawing was completed, and before we had availed ourselves of the opportunity of making the necessary examination, we were unfortunately precluded from so doing by his sudden transfer to another country. His likeness alone, and a faithful and spirited likeness we will venture
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THE BORNEAN BEAR.
THE BORNEAN BEAR.
Ursus (Helarctos) euryspilus. Horsf. Of this very remarkable animal, the only individual of the species ever seen in Europe, and in fact the only one that has yet fallen under the notice of zoologists, so complete an account has been published by Dr. Horsfield, in the second volume of the Zoological Journal, that it would be presumptuous in us to attempt to add any thing to the masterly details which are there furnished both of its organization and habits. We shall therefore in the present insta
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MONKEYS.
MONKEYS.
Simiæ. Linn. It may perhaps seem to require some apology that we have ventured so far to depart from the ordinary system of arrangement as to remove the Monkeys from the station which they have hitherto usually been permitted to occupy at the head of the class, and to transfer them to their present position. We will not attempt to conceal that in so doing we were chiefly actuated by the desire of placing at the commencement of our series the largest and most attractive of the animals of which it
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THE BONNETED MONKEY.
THE BONNETED MONKEY.
Macacus Radiatus. Desm....
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THE PIG-FACED BABOON.
THE PIG-FACED BABOON.
Cynocephalus Porcarius. Desm. The Monkey which occupies the left hand in the present cut forms part of the same group with the subjects noticed at the end of the preceding article, from which it is distinguished by the peculiar manner in which the hair of the upper part of its head diverges, and, as it were, radiates horizontally, from a central point towards an imaginary circumference, assuming a form not unlike the object to which it is usually compared, the round bonnet of a Chinese. Its fore
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THE BABOON.
THE BABOON.
Cynocephalus Papio. Desm. In the true Baboons the facial angle of the adult varies from 30° to 35°, and the superciliary crests are for the most part considerably elevated, as is also the ridge on the back of the head formed by the attachment of the temporal muscles, which, as well as the canine teeth, are large and powerful. The cheeks are furnished with pouches capable of much distension; and the muzzle terminates in a flattened extremity like that of the dog, on which the openings of the nost
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THE WHITE-HEADED MONGOOS.
THE WHITE-HEADED MONGOOS.
Lemur Albifrons. Geoff. Belonging to a different tribe of the same grand division with the true Monkeys, from which they are more readily distinguished by their general form and habit than by any very remarkable deviation in their structure or organization, these agile and playful little creatures form a group which naturally follows in immediate succession. The technical peculiarities on which their separation from the Monkeys is founded are usually deduced from their teeth and nails; but other
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THE KANGUROO.
THE KANGUROO.
Macropus Major. Shaw. The very peculiar structure from which the Marsupial animals derive their name has been regarded by almost every naturalist who has written on the subject as so essential a deviation from the common type, that, setting aside all considerations of form or habits, and regardless even of those technical characters on which so much reliance is usually placed, they have for the most part agreed in uniting under the same family designation every animal in which it occurred. This
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THE AFRICAN PORCUPINE.
THE AFRICAN PORCUPINE.
Hystrix Cristata. Linn. Although the Rodent order, next to the Carnivorous, is the most numerous in species, the Porcupine is the only animal belonging to it which is at present contained in the Menagerie. The animals of this division, consisting chiefly of “rats and mice and such small deer,” have indeed, with some few exceptions, so little of interest for the mere casual visiter of an exhibition, that it is rarely that they are sought after unless by the scientific collector. They are at once
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THE ASIATIC ELEPHANT.
THE ASIATIC ELEPHANT.
Elephas Indicus. Cuv. The opportune arrival of a beautiful little Elephant, an animal which has for some time been a desideratum to the Menagerie, fortunately enables us to add to our list of subjects that which in all probability presents the most generally attractive spectacle among the whole class of Mammiferous Quadrupeds. The strong and peculiar interest which the Elephant possesses above all other beasts arises in fact not so much from his gigantic bulk and immense muscular power, as from
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THE ZEBRA OF THE PLAINS.
THE ZEBRA OF THE PLAINS.
Equus Burchellii. The well known group of which the Horse, the Ass, and the Zebra constitute the leading species, is distinguished from all other quadrupeds by the form of their hoof, which is single and undivided, rounded in front, of considerable thickness, and enveloping the extremity of their only apparent toe. They have in each jaw six powerful cutting teeth, accompanied on either side by the same number of grinders with square crowns flattened at the top: the males have two canines in the
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THE LLAMA.
THE LLAMA.
Llama Peruviana. Cuv. In common with the Camels, the Llamas are distinguished from all other Ruminating animals chiefly by the absence of horns, by the structure of their feet, and by their mode of dentition, in all of which these two closely allied groups very nearly correspond with each other. In their general form there is also some similarity; but the latter are much lighter in their proportions, and far more lively and spirited in their motions. They exhibit no traces of the clumsy and unsi
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THE MALAYAN RUSA-DEER.
THE MALAYAN RUSA-DEER.
Cervus Equinus. Cuv. The Deer constitute a numerous and beautiful group of Ruminants, which are readily distinguished by the graceful symmetry of their form, by their long and slender, but firm and sinewy, legs, by their broad and pointed ears, and by the comparative shortness of their tails; but more especially by the generally large and branching horns which ornament the heads of the males. Like all the ruminating animals, with the exception of those mentioned in the preceding article, they ar
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THE INDIAN ANTELOPE.
THE INDIAN ANTELOPE.
Antilope Cervicapra. Pall. In the elegant symmetry of their form and the light and graceful agility of their motions, the Antelopes are superior even to the Deer, whom, however, they closely resemble, not merely in outward shape, but also in internal structure. Like them, in addition to the coincidence of a slightly made and beautifully proportioned figure, they are frequently furnished with a naked muzzle, and with the same remarkable sinus beneath the inner angle of the eye; and their ears are
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THE AFRICAN SHEEP.
THE AFRICAN SHEEP.
Ovis Aries. Linn. —Var. Guineensis. In characterizing the present genus, were we to look solely at the animal such as we have it daily before our eyes, the distinction between it and all the other Ruminants is too striking to be for a moment mistaken. But the insensible gradations which connect this familiar denizen of our downs and pastures with the untamed native of the desert and the precipice, and the close affinity which subsists between the latter and the goats, render it almost impossible
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THE GREAT SEA-EAGLE.
THE GREAT SEA-EAGLE.
Haliaetos ossifragus. Sav....
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THE GOLDEN EAGLE.
THE GOLDEN EAGLE.
Aquila Chrysaetos. Sav. Having in the preceding article terminated the series of Mammiferous Quadrupeds at present existing in the Tower Menagerie, we must next direct our attention to the illustration of the Birds, a Class which, although fully entitled to the second place in the arrangement of the Animal Kingdom, is separated by a wide and almost unoccupied interval from that which unquestionably claims the foremost rank. To commence then with the Eagles, which form a prominent group of the Ra
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THE BEARDED GRIFFIN.
THE BEARDED GRIFFIN.
Gypaetos barbatus. Storr. The Bearded Griffin takes an intermediate station between the Eagles and the Vultures, with the former of which it agrees more closely in general appearance and external form, and with the latter in internal structure and habits. The principal point in which it differs from them both consists in the tuft of bristly hairs which take their origin partly from the cere that covers the base of the beak, and partly from the under mandible, and are directed outwards and downwa
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THE GRIFFON VULTURE.
THE GRIFFON VULTURE.
Vultur fulvus. Linn. If the Eagles are considered as bearing a close analogy to the more noble and perfect among the Carnivorous Quadrupeds, such as the Lion and the Tiger, which live in solitary grandeur and attack none but living victims, the Vultures may, with equal propriety, be regarded as the representatives of the Jackal, the Wolf, the Hyæna, and other inferior animals of that Order, which hunt in packs and prey upon carrion. Endowed like these animals with an extreme fineness of scent, t
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THE SECRETARY BIRD.
THE SECRETARY BIRD.
Gypogeranus serpentarius. Illig. The singular conformation of this bird, so different in many respects from that of the Order to which both in its leading characters and in its habits it obviously belongs, rendered it for a long time one of the torments of ornithologists, who puzzled themselves in vain to assign it a definitive place in the system, and could not agree even with regard to the grand division of the class to which it ought to be referred. Thus M. Temminck was at one time inclined t
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THE VIRGINIAN HORNED-OWL.
THE VIRGINIAN HORNED-OWL.
Strix Virginiana. Linn. All the preceding birds belong to that division of the Rapacious Order which pursue their prey in the open face of day, and are consequently termed Diurnal; but those which we have now to notice are on the contrary Nocturnal in their habits, and only venture abroad in the shades of the evening, or under cover of the darkness of the night. They are readily distinguished from the former by their short and compressed bill, curved from its very base; by the anterior position
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THE DEEP BLUE MACAW.
THE DEEP BLUE MACAW.
Anodorhynchus Maximiliani. Spix. The second Order of Birds, which comprehends both the Picæ and Passeres of Linnæus, is essentially distinguished from the rest of the class by the structure of the feet, which are formed for perching. Those of the Scansorial tribe in particular, to which all the species to be here noticed belong, have two of the toes directed forwards, and the remaining two directed backwards, in such a manner as to enable them to grasp the branch of a tree or other similar objec
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THE BLUE AND YELLOW MACAW.
THE BLUE AND YELLOW MACAW.
Macrocercus Ararauna. Vieill. The genus Macrocercus is characterized by the robustness of its beak, which is extremely broad and powerful; by the nakedness of its face, which is sometimes entirely bare, and sometimes partially covered with lines of short and scattered feathers; and by the size and form of its tail, which is longer than the body, regularly graduated, and terminating in an acute apex. The whole of the species are American, and are remarkable for the brilliancy of their colours, wh
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THE YELLOW-CRESTED COCKATOO.
THE YELLOW-CRESTED COCKATOO.
Plyctolophus sulphureus. Vieill. The Cockatoos have a strong, broad, and well curved beak; their eyes are surrounded by a naked space; their tail is short, square, and equal at the end; and their head is furnished with a remarkable crest of long and slender feathers, which may be raised or depressed at will, and are frequently of a different colour from the rest of the plumage. This latter character forms the most distinguishing mark of the group, which is partly indigenous to India and the Indi
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THE EMEU.
THE EMEU.
Dromiceius Novæ Hollandiæ. Vieill. The New Holland Emeu, as well as the Ostrich and the Cassowary, to both of which it is nearly related, is now generally regarded as belonging to the Rasorial Order, the Gallinaæ of Linnæus, the feet of which are formed for running and for scratching up the earth in search of the seeds which constitute their usual subsistence. Some of the birds, however, which are referred to it, and particularly those now under consideration, feed upon fruits and roots. The who
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THE CROWNED CRANE.
THE CROWNED CRANE.
Anthropoides pavoninus. Vieill. The fourth Order of Birds, the Waders, are strikingly characterized by the great length of their legs, the lower part of which is entirely bare of feathers; a peculiarity which is of essential service by enabling them to stand for a long time in the water without injury to their plumage, watching for the fish and reptiles, of which the larger species, and the worms and insects, of which the smaller among them, make their usual prey. The beautiful birds represented
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THE PELICAN.
THE PELICAN.
Pelecanus Onocrotalus. Linn. The Pelican affords an excellent illustration of the fifth and last Order of Birds, the Swimmers; the essential character of which consists in the membranous union of the toes, which renders them what is usually termed web-footed, and enables them to propel themselves upon the surface of the water with greater or less rapidity in proportion to the greater or less comparative extent of the membrane in which their toes are enveloped. They are all consequently inhabitan
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THE ALLIGATOR.
THE ALLIGATOR.
Crocodilus Lucius. Cuv. The enormous Reptile from which this genus derives its name belongs to the same subdivision of that class as the agile Lizard and the many-hued Chamæleon, with which it was comprehended by Linnæus under the single generic title of Lacerta. This group has subsequently been elevated to the rank of an order, consisting of numerous genera, among which the Crocodiles are distinguished by the following characters. Their toes are five in number on the anterior feet, and four on
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THE INDIAN BOA.
THE INDIAN BOA.
Python Tigris. Daud. The Serpents form a division of the Reptile Class too well known by their elongated scaly bodies, and their total deprivation of external members, to require any minute description of their organization. They are also held by the generality of mankind in so much abhorrence, and regarded for the most part with such strong feelings of unmitigated disgust, that we feel but little inclined to dwell upon their history, how much soever they may on many accounts be considered as de
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THE ANACONDA.
THE ANACONDA.
Python Tigris , Var. The Anaconda is a name which, like that of the Boa Constrictor, has been popularly applied to all the larger and more powerful snakes. It appears to be of Ceylonese origin, and may therefore belong of right, as well as of usage, to the present Indian species. The serpent which passes under this title at the Tower, and which is figured above, seems to differ in no essential respects from the Boa of the preceding article, the only appreciable distinctions between them consisti
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THE RATTLESNAKE.
THE RATTLESNAKE.
Crotalus Horridus. Linn. If the Boas furnish the most terrible examples of the tremendous powers of destruction possessed by a few of that division of the Serpent tribe, whose bite is unattended with the effusion of venom, the Rattlesnakes afford a no less remarkable instance of the dreadful malignity of the poison with which others of the tribe are so abundantly supplied. This poison is secreted by a gland of considerable size situated beneath the eye, the excretory duct of which terminates on
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